The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [AT] All three of them have lost someone precious. And so the labyrinth calls them - and offers them a shadow of a choice. They can find the voices lost to them and stay, or find a sort of peace and move on.
1. The Boy Without His Kindness

**A/N: **This is a random idea that occurred to me. AT from three different points in three different canons – right after the deaths of Osamu, Leomon and Kouichi (yup, he's permanently dead in this one). One of my more nonsensical bits of work…but it was still a fun trip.

And somehow or other, I managed to write all 60 chapters before posting. Usually a remi is too impatient. :D

Written for the Becoming the Tamer King challenge, Training Peak task, and for the Diversity Writing Challenge, I39 – write in the hurt/comfort genre.

* * *

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_1\. The Boy Without His Kindness_**

Ken wakes.

There is no screeching of tires. There is no screaming: his screaming, the screaming of the bystanders, his brother's screaming… There is no smell of burning rubber or fresh, coppery blood.

It is dark and cold…and dry.

Ken feels around anyway. He's not sure what he's searching for. His brother's hand, maybe. Because it is dark and cold and somewhat scary and his brother's hand would be a very comforting thing. But he doesn't find his brother's hand. Or his brother's sleeve or shoe or any part of his brother.

Not even the blood he remembers seeing. Or the torn sneaker. Or the broken glasses.

Or the echo of an empty room afterwards: a room they'd shared since he was old enough to not need a crib any longer.

His voice echoes though. When he calls for his brother: his voice soft, and fragile.

He can't see anything at all. Like a nightmare. Like a sickness. And his brother isn't there to say it was just his imagination and make him feel better.

Wormmon isn't there either. Or Ryo. Or V-mon. Or his parents.

He hugs himself and tries not to cry, because there's no-one who'll wipe the tears away.


	2. The Girl Without Her Courage

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_2\. The Girl Without Her Courage_**

Juri wakes.

She is somewhere dark, she notices. Dark, and cold.

And alone.

But she already knows that she's alone. Leomon is gone. Dead. And the others…

She lost them in a curtain of tears and blood and fighting.

There are none of those sounds now. No screaming. No crying. No firing of guns. No clashing of blades.

The silence is almost comforting. Almost.

But it frightens her. It's dark, and cold, and she only had her green summer dress and her yellow t-shirt underneath. Her hands search uselessly, feeling square tiles. There is no sock puppet though. No sock puppet that she can pretend is talking to her and comforting her.

She knows it's not there but she pats her pockets anyway. A last, almost desperate, search. She finds only her little coin purse. No sock puppet. No other things that were in her pocket either, last she recalled. Her Tamers cards. And her digivice.

She is well and truly alone.

And she lets tears fall because there is no-one to see her cry.


	3. The Boy Without His Light

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_3\. The Boy Without His Light_**

Kouji wakes.

_Its dark,_ is the first thing he notices. Cold and dark…and lonely. Worse than when he'd wandered inside Seriphotmon, blindly.

And his body doesn't ache. Only his heart aches.

_That's…not fair._

His body _should_ ache. They'd been fighting. Losing. Being battered. He should be in pain from that. But he's not. The only pain is that gutting, wrenching, feeling in his chest.

He wants to cry, and he doesn't even know why.

Then he laughs to himself. Laughs even as he tries to crawl to his feet, feeling neat square tiles underneath. He laughs because he's lying to himself, because he knows exactly why he wants to cry and he just doesn't want to admit it to himself.

Because Kouichi's come like a breeze passing through and Kouji's barely gotten used to the idea of having a twin when he's gone.

And it hurts because it's not fair at all. And he wants to cry.

Instead, he wraps his arms around himself and squeezes until his arms ache because his nails are digging into them, telling him he's still alive and still in one piece and no more worse for wear.

And his heart aches like it's sitting on burning embers, too weak to be a light.


	4. The Guide's Warm Hands

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_4\. The Guide's Warm Hands_**

Ken calls again, even though only his own echoing voice is responding, small and afraid. And then he lets his shoulders slump, his hands slap on to the ground in defeat.

Someone tenderly picks up one, and he looks up. He can't see, still; it's too dark. But someone is holding his hand gently now.

Another hand is wiping his tears gently away.

'Don't cry.' It is a female voice, and young. 'Come; I'll lead you away from here.'

There is the sound of someone – or maybe some_thing_, because Ken hears footsteps but he doesn't think they sound like human footsteps – circles around him and butts his back.

The girl Ken still can't see helps him to his feet and he wobbles. 'Easy does it,' she says gently, one arm around his waist. The other one is still holding his hand…and it feels a little warmer now. 'Easy does it,' she repeats again, and this time Ken notices she has an accent. American, he thinks. He wonders who she is.

But she's leading him slowly out, and the…creature behind him is pushing gently behind his knees, so he just walks.

A door creaks, then opens, and he stares at the flickering light of a flame on the wall.


	5. The Guide's Warm Tongue

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_5\. The Guide's Warm Tongue_**

Something creaks in the distance, and Juri starts. Something licks her hand, as though to comfort her. She can't make anything out, of course, except the tongue…which isn't quite as slobbery as dog tongues tend to me. She's had her fair share of being licked by those in the park and it's a little different.

But she doesn't know quite what it is. Not a cat, because those have smaller tongues.

And then there is a hand in hers, and another around her waist, helping her up. 'Come,' says a sweet, female voice in her year. 'Let's get out of this dark place.'

'Who – ' she begins, but it breaks off because she hasn't quite finished crying.

Something soft brushes her face, and then tender hands and what felt like a tissue were drying her tears. 'There, there,' the girl said softly. The voice sounded young enough to belong to a girl. 'Everything will be alright, soon.'

'Soon,' Juri repeats, a little hollowly, but she follows obediently as the girl steers her. The…whatever had licked her…followed. What sounds like paws along the tiles. She's never heard paws along tiles before to be able to decide who or what they belong to.

She simply walks along with them, until a small flame of light appears in the darkness.


	6. The Guide's Warm Voice

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_6\. The Guide's Warm Voice_**

Kouji hears a creak, and then footsteps far off. He doesn't try to follow them. There is no need.

He doesn't like this sort of darkness, especially without Kouichi there, but there is no need to leave it. And it is a foolish sentiment too. Without Kouichi. Because they've never really talked about the darkness.

But still, somehow it had seemed far more comfortable with his brother beside him. The Continent of Darkness. The Dark Area. So long as Kouichi was there… Even the darkness inside Seriphotmon had seemed bearable, and they'd both been intent on murder then.

It is amusing. Nonsensical. The bond of blood and soul that went deeper than flimsy memories.

And now those are all fresh in his heart and he can't pretend he'ds forgotten again.

He might as well stay.

But then there is a voice. 'Come.' A girl's voice. Maybe the same age as him. 'We'll get out of this darkness.' And a hand on his. He flinches away, so it goes to his shoulder. He flinches again.

And then there is a warm nose. Like the dear old puppy he's left at home, but different. 'Come.' And this time it is a male voice. Gravelly. But kind. 'We'll find who you're looking for.'

He gets up obediently after that. And doesn't push away the hand that wraps around his waist to guide him towards the light.


	7. The Three Lost Souls I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_7\. The Three Lost Souls I_**

The girl lets go of Ken's hand and plucks one of the flame torches off the wall. There are lots of them, he realises slowly. Lining the passageway both right and left.

And they illuminate the passage in a soft, orange glow.

They illuminate the girl as well. She has blonde hair, and is dressed in black. She looks to be about as old as his brother as well. And she has a sad little smile on her lips.

Beside her is a digimon. It takes Ken a moment to remember the name of the species. _Dobermon_.

But he's never seen the girl before and so he doesn't know her name.

She doesn't introduce herself either. She plucks another flame torch off the wall and offered it to him though. He takes it carefully, holding it carefully so it won't burn him. Ryo had taught him a lot of things about survival, and holding burning branches had been one of them. The torch is better made than that though. They are easier to hold.

'I'll be back in a bit,' the girl says, and she and the Dobermon vanish back into the darkness, leaving him with the light and the passageways stretching to who knew where.

_She'll be back in a bit_, he reminds himself. _Don't be scared._

But without Osamu or Wormmon or Ryo or anyone there, it is all too easy to be scared.


	8. The Three Lost Souls II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_8\. The Three Lost Souls II_**

The light grows bigger as they walk towards it, and after a bit, Juri can make out a little boy holding flame torch as close as he dares.

He isn't as young as Masohiko was but he is younger than her. Or looks to be younger than her. And his eyes are wide and scared.

Juri imagines her eyes are similar. Or maybe they are empty and sad, like her father's had been when her mother passed away.

The girl leading her lets go of her waist once they step in to the passage and disappears around the bend along with a digimon. Juri recognises it. She has the card. But it still takes her a moment to recall the name of their species. _Dobermon… It's a Dobermon._

The girl and her Dobermon appear a moment later with a torch that she hands to Juri.

Juri tried to mime the girl's way of holding it. She hadn't realised the other had been holding a torch. It had given no light at all until they'd stepped into the passage.

'I'll be back,' the girl says softly, and she goes back the way they'd come. The light from her torch disappears, as though the darkness douses it.


	9. The Three Lost Souls III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_9\. The Three Lost Souls III_**

There are two flickers of light, Kouji realises, once they are close enough. Two flame torches held by two different people: a girl who looks about his age, and a boy who looks around Tomoki's. Or maybe a year or two younger. Even when he is practically standing in front of them and the girl steering him – he hasn't looked at her, just shrugs her off as soon as he can make out his feet – has gone off.

She returns a moment later with two torches – or maybe she's already been holding that one. She offers the other to him, and he stares at its burning flame a moment before accepting it with a curt word of thanks.

She smiles and nodded and pets the…digimon, Kouji notices belatedly, walking beside her. Of course it is a digimon. He can't remember if he'd seen this species before or not though.

But he doesn't ask. There is a more pressing question in his mind, now that they are out of the darkness and the passageway stretches until out of sight. The darkness as quiet. This small, flickering light makes him…restless, somehow. Angsty. Nervous.

'Where are we?' he asks.


	10. Tears and the Guide I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_10\. Tears and the Guide I_**

'Where are we?'

It is the latest arrival who asks: the tall boy with the ponytail and the hard face that, when he'd first become visible, reminded Ken so fiercely of his brother.

But there are too many differences he can count now so he just looks away. At the girl standing before them with her Dobermon.

And girl's eyes have grown sad at the question. 'Between worlds,' she says. 'I suppose you can say. Because you've all lost someone that means more to you than your own life.'

_Osamu_, Ken thinks. Of course, he loves his brother very much. More than Ryo, even though Ryo was so kind and patient with him.

And Osamu must have felt the same about him, Ken thinks, for him to push him out of the way of that oncoming car.

The girl is suddenly offering him a tissue again and he blinks, realising his vision has gone all fuzzy.

_Tears_, he thinks, and he thanks her before dabbing carefully at his eyes. He pockets the tissue.

The girl smiles kindly and pulls out another tissue from the packet, offering it to the other girl.


	11. Tears and the Guide II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_11\. Tears and the Guide II_**

Juri accepts the tissue the other hands her and covers her nose and mouth. It's easier to cry like that, even though she's a little embarrassed that there's another girl and two boys and a Dobermon to see her cry. But the littler boy is crying too.

Misery loves company, she supposes. And everyone's lost someone. It's okay to cry for them.

But the taller boy isn't crying. He's an inch or so taller than her. Just a little bit. And he's not sniffling like she is, like the younger boy is. She doesn't look to see if he has tears in his eyes. She's preoccupied with her own tears.

The darkness was comforting, she realises. When no-one could see her. When there was no-one else to add to her already gloomy mood. Where there doesn't have to be a place to go.

'I'm afraid I can't take you very far.'

The girl is speaking again, and Juri tries to pay attention. She sounds sad, too. Maybe she really wants to take them somewhere.

_But where?_


	12. Tears and the Guide III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_12\. Tears and the Guide III_**

Kouji doesn't cry. He's already done his crying, in between Lucemon's attacks.

And there is nothing left to cry for.

The girl continues explaining. Leads them down the corridor and they all, for whatever reason, follow. Like moths to a flame, or something like that. They leave the darkness behind them.

It's uncomfortable. Every step is uncomfortable. And along the way the girl explains that there are three passageways from there. 'I don't know how they go,' she says apologetically. 'But they all get to the same place in the end.' Dobermon tilts his head towards her, and she adds: 'I'm afraid I don't quite know where that is, either.'

She isn't very informative, but Kouji thinks that's fine because he's not exactly looking for anything. He doesn't even need to move.

But then the girl speaks again and proves him wrong. 'The torches lining this passage will go out soon,' she says. 'There are more torches after the fork splits.'

Kouji looks at his torch and notes that she is right. And, somehow, being in a passage that could be endless while in the dark is more frightening than a closed room.

On a whim, he looks down. It's not tiles anymore, but stone.


	13. The First Fork I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_13\. The First Fork I_**

Ken thinks the passageways looked more frightening, and if it hadn't for the unintentional threat of darkness, he would have been more than happy to just curl up against the wall.

'Don't worry,' their guide says softly. 'I promise, you'll find the one you're missing through there.'

'Through the tunnels?' he asks, his voice small and tentative. 'Osamu?'

She gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze and moves to the other two.

He doesn't move though. It's frightening. And it's too good to be true. He knows Osamu is dead. And he knows that dead people don't come back to life.

The other girl bursts into tears and runs into one of the tunnels. Ken doesn't see which, and since the other boy isn't looking their way, he probably doesn't see either.

_She believes it_, Ken thinks, wondering why he can't see a torch disappearing from sight. He grips his own one: its weak flame still lit. _She believes it…or it's a digimon._

He wishes he can believe it too.

'Humans don't come back to life.'

The other boy doesn't believe it either. His voice is hard and cold and scary, and Ken shivers. But still, the other boy moves before Ken does. And this time, Ken sees which tunnel he picks.

Ken decides to follow. At least that way he knows there'll be someone ahead of him.


	14. The First Fork II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_14\. The First Fork II_**

Juri doesn't pick a passage from the fork. She just runs and winds up in one and she can't even be sure which. Not that it matters. Because Leomon can come back and that's all that matters.

They do that in the television show, she remembers. Though she never watched it much. She heard things from her classmates though. How digimon come back to life. There's even a place where it happens. The Primary Village.

Maybe that's where the passageways lead.

But some part of her reminds the rest that a village won't be found indoors, and it makes little sense for floors of tiles and stones to lead there.

But the rest of her doesn't care. She just runs and runs and runs until she can't run anymore, and then she trips and falls.

The flame had gone out before then, but the torch rolls away from her as well.

And there is only cold stone and darkness with her.


	15. The First Fork III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_15\. The First Fork III_**

Kouji walks aimlessly. He picks a tunnel almost at random – but it's not random. He picks the left fork because that's where he always remembers Kouichi walking.

And it's probably silly because there's hardly any chance Kouichi would always pick the same side to walk. The side where there's more shade maybe, or more sunlight. Or where something is. Or isn't. Or where somebody isn't walking. Or is. But just a side, for no other reason except it is a side, is unlikely.

It's silly. And sentimental. And sentimental isn't silly until he starts making things up and he might be doing that right now. But it doesn't matter. The left path is just as good as the right or middle ones. If they lead to the same place in the end, who cares?

If they don't go to the same place, or any place, who cares either? He's moving now. He can continue under that illusion in the darkness when there's nothing at the end of the road and nothing he'll bump into if he continues on his way.


	16. The First Bend I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_16\. The First Bend I_**

Ken knows there's someone in front of him and that keeps him walking. He also doesn't know if there's anyone behind any more. If that girl, their guide, and her digimon are still there. Or if they've vanished. Or if they've chosen a passageway – this passageway – or another one.

And he's still a child and maybe, _maybe_, there is something at the end of the road. Maybe there is Osamu. Maybe those bubbles they used to blow together. Maybe his homework, taking up all the desk space so Ken would sprawl with his picture books on the floor. Maybe the soccer ball they'd kick around in the park when Ken managed to convince his older brother that he needed a break. Maybe the ice-cream Osamu would sometimes treat him to and rarely tell their parents about…because that was just another special thing they'd shared together.

Or maybe it's the special someone that the other boy has lost. But that's okay. That's good, because then that boy will be happy and Ken will have a little more hope as well: that if one precious lost person was here, then another might be here as well. And Ken can continue walking.

But although he knows for sure there is someone ahead of him, he can't see that person, nor hear him.

And then all the flickering torchlight shows in front is bricks, and his heart almost stops in fear before he notices the slit of darkness to his left.

Left. The path is bending sharply left.


	17. The First Bend II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_17\. The First Bend II_**

Juri doesn't know what's ahead of her but she runs anyway. She runs and she runs until she crashes into something and drops her torch and falls on cold stone ground and cries.

Because she knows she's desperate. She knows she's running after, or maybe towards, something that may not exist. She knows she's listening to someone she doesn't know – and how many times had her father told her not to do that?

But she loves Leomon and she knows from the show, from Takato and Hirokazu and Kenta always talking about the show, that digimon are reborn. So Leomon _can_ be reborn. She knows it. She clings to that. Takeru's Patamon was reborn. The Chosen's Whamon friend was reborn. They were reborn, so Leomon could be reborn as well.

'Leomon can be reborn,' she repeats to herself, crawling and searching for the torch. It's gone out, but holding something makes her feel better. She rathers it be Leomon's soft paw, but she'll make do. 'Leomon told me to stay brave.'

And that girl, the guide, had reminded her that Leomon can come back to her.

Leomon gives her courage.

Alice gives her hope.

She feels the stone wall until she finds the gap, the turn. And she follows with one hand holding the dead torch and the other feeling along the wall.

Until the next time she falls and the cycle of hope reaches a low again.


	18. The First Bend III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_18\. The First Bend III_**

Kouji falters a little when he sees the wall of stones, but his eyes are quick to search out the slit of darkness that suggests the path isn't vanishing but simply bending out of sight.

And he is quick to follow that.

The torchlight flickers, keeping his way alight. It follows him obediently. It keeps the darkness at bay.

Again and again, he resists the impulse to douse the flame, because the darkness is Kouichi's forte and if the torch isn't there, then maybe…

But the rest of him fights that because it's a foolish idea.

And, honestly, he's terrified of wandering blindly through stone passageways.

Even if he's more likely to stay in the illusion that there's no end.

But he keeps walking. And he keeps the light.

He's a little hopeful, even if he refuses to allow himself to be.

He's a little hopeful, even if he won't admit it. Even to himself.

He's a little hopeful. Enough to keep walking with his torch.


	19. The Second Fork I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_19\. The Second Fork I_**

The others must be far ahead of him by now, Ken thinks. But that's okay. They're hurt too. They're sad too. If they can find their happiness, then that's fine. And that'll give more hope to him.

Still, he wholeheartedly wishes he could catch up to them. Though it's too dark to run, even though he has his torch. He grips it tightly. He doesn't want it to vanish, to go out. And, for now, it is his only companion in this darkness.

He is starting to get tired. And though he thinks that if he had more hope he could walk to the ends of the earth or some cliché like that, he knows he'll need to stop and rest. And fall further behind. Wait longer before he can reach Osamu…if Osamu is really there.

His eyes water. It's hard to stay hopeful alone. Though it's even harder to stay hopeful in the darkness, so at least there is some light now. And some hope.

But then his heart sinks as he sees the path splitting ahead. Another fork.

And this time, the guide isn't there to tell them whether they matter or not.

And there's no other telltale flame to show which way the other boy at least had gone.


	20. The Second Fork II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_20\. The Second Fork II_**

Juri passes the second fork without realising.

It's because her torch is no longer lit. It's because she's feeling along the wall and the stone speaks nothing of a fork. It's because she's walking as fast as she thinks she can without tripping over the darkness so she can feel a little braver, a little less scared…and, as a consequence, she's not looking at the darkness, searching for any light in it.

Until she does trip, down the right passageway, and the torch stick rolls away from her again. And, this time, she can't find it easily. She feels about, from wall to wall, up and down – but she dares not move too far, in case she loses her spot and her bearings.

She has to keep moving forward after all. She can't waste time going back. But…

She'd been feeling a little braver with that stick in hand.

And now she can't find it.


	21. The Second Fork III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_21\. The Second Fork II_**I

He sees the second fork and he pauses for a moment, unsure.

The left passage again, he thinks. But, unless he's mistaken, he can hear something in the right one. Something rolling on the ground. Something scraping.

He is not a cat. Kouichi's is the spirit closer to one; he is the wolf, the hunter. No-one ever said curiosity killed the wolf. Just the cat.

Maybe it really had been curiosity. Wanting to meet his brother.

Kouji bites his lip, hard, to send away that thought. It is painful. It is far away from his ambling.

So is following the left path because he thinks it'll take him closer to Kouichi's shoes.

And maybe he'll turn into a cat. And be killed by curiosity.

He can't say he minds.

He chooses the right path this time.


	22. A Flicker I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_22\. A Flicker I_**

Ken sees a flicker approaching him, instead of the other way around, and he's confused.

It turns and vanishes in a slightly different angle, and he's even more confused. And a little afraid as well.

He wonders if there's something else in the passages. Something stalking them. Waiting to pounce.

He clutches the flame so close his shirt begins to smell charred. He's surprised it hasn't caught aflame. Maybe it's because it clings to his body.

He's sweating as well. So that probably helps. Or doesn't.

For a while he just stands there, until the flickering light is good and gone, and he forces himself to move on. He doesn't want to fight. He never did. And he can't fight anyway. There is no Osamu. No Wormmon. No Ryo.

Even that boy and girl and the guide aren't there with him right then.

He stands still until the shadows begin to leap out and then he creeps slowly ahead. Ahead because he knows there's nothing back, and the other two haven't passed him so they must still be ahead as well.

He has to be brave. He has to be good.

If he'd been good, Osamu wouldn't have…

He gulped, and forced himself on. There was a chance. A hope. However slim, he couldn't be selfish again. He couldn't.

The way the flickering flame had moved made a little bit of sense when he came across the second fork.


	23. A Flicker II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_23\. A Flicker II_**

She sees a flame approaching and her impulse is to both scramble towards and away.

As a result, she winds up sprawled on the stone again, like she'd first been found.

And the light draws closer. She gulps, suddenly afraid. Can it be a digimon? Something she knows she can't fight without Leomon there.

Sense tells her to search for the stick. At least it can be a weapon. Even if she knows no kendo at all, or any move that she could do with a stick. But she can't take her eyes off the flame.

And it draws closer. And, finally, she can hear footsteps over her breathing. And see a face.

It's the boy that looks about his age.

'I lost my torch.' Her voice sounds small, pathetic, and she grimaces a little.

He stares at her. She wonders if he'll help. Or walk on. Maybe it's a competition of some sort. Then there's no wonder he'll leave her behind. Go on, searching for his loved one.

But he only stares at her a moment, and then hands something to her.

His torch.

She takes it before she realises it means he'll be going forward without a light.

He laughs, bitterly she thinks, when she says that. 'I am the light.'


	24. A Flicker III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_24\. A Flicker III_**

He hands over his torch and then leaves her there, her face wet and her eyes trying to follow him.

The darkness swallows him. Rather, he lets it.

He can't be afraid of the darkness. And he shouldn't need a light. He's the warrior of light.

His twin brother is the warrior of darkness.

He walks on. He walks without feeling for a while until he smacks into cold stone and then he stretches out a hand and continues that way.

He's pretty sure he's gone back to the fork and turned left. But he's not entirely sure.

Maybe it's fate. Maybe it's fate that he bumped into that girl. That she'd lost her torch. That she'd looked so terrified that it had allowed Kouji to choose: go on with light, or without.

Because he wasn't going to stay. He couldn't stand still that long. Time would start moving again.

If he walks along with time, at least it has the illusion of stagnancy.

And, in the darkness, there is nothing to distinguish.

Except the thudding sound of his heartbeat calling him a liar and a fool.


	25. A Direction I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_25\. A Direction I_**

There is no sign either way to suggest which path is the right one, or which has already been taken. Ken touches the walls. They are stone and cold, just like everywhere else.

He's surprised he can sweat when it's so cold.

It must be the torch he's carrying all too close.

He closes his eyes, then opens them. He searches for a clue. He finds nothing. Just two spreads of darkness.

He has to choose one.

_Right_, he decides finally. Doesn't everyone always say to follow the right hand rule if you're lost in a maze?

He goes right.

He hopes there's something there. Or someone.


	26. A Direction II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_26\. A Direction II_**

She follows the boy, until she loses him. Because she's scared and she feels guilty for having the torch while he doesn't and maybe it's a mix of both that makes her follow from a distance. Just far enough to give light, but not so close as to appear so fragile.

She's amazed at how cool he appears. How collected. Except for that bitter laugh. That bitter laugh that had sounded quite frightening.

But then she loses him, and she has to forget about him because she comes across a fork. A fork she'd missed the first time. And she stares. At the path she'd come through. She knows she'd been going backwards. So the path directly ahead was one she'd already walked.

That left two choices: the path to her right or the one she'd just come from.

The boy had obviously chosen the left.

And he must have known she'd been following. He'd wanted to lose her.

And she had no particular preference. Left or right. They looked the same, in the torchlight.

If she goes right, she thinks, she might find the original torch again, and relight it. Then, she could return the torch if the paths intersected again. Or she could double back again.

She goes right.


	27. A Direction III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_27\. A Direction III_**

He goes left in the new darkness.

It's still fitting. More fitting.

He'd gone right. He'd found what had dragged him that way and now he wanted to go left.

Or maybe he wanted to go a way he wouldn't be followed, and the girl he'd given his torch to would probably continue right.

Or follow him.

She was following him, but he's lost her, he thinks. It's dark now. Pure darkness, except for the stone that occasionally brushes his hand.

It is frightening, but he pretends it's not. He wants to pretend they're just playing hide and seek and Kouichi's just really good at it but he can't. he doesn't have any childhood memories of his brother. They were separated far too early, twice over

So he only pretends that he's walking towards where his brother is, and the darkness hiding everything can make it seem just like time is standing still.


	28. Their Tears I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_28\. Their Tears I_**

Eventually, fatigue catches up and Ken finds his feet dragging, then falling, and then he finally trips and lies on the ground, too tired to get up.

Or maybe he's just unwilling to get up.

His torch clatters away. He doesn't try to find it. If he does, he will eventually get up and start walking again. And he'll walk until he collapses again. And the torch will lick him until his shirt is in tatters and then, when it goes out, he will freeze…

Like he is freezing now, on the cold stone floor.

If Osamu had been there, he would have told him to get up and keep walking. Maybe held his hand if Ken looks desolate enough.

But Osamu's not here. No-one is here to offer a hand.


	29. Their Tears II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_29\. Their Tears II_**

She walks and she walks until she hears someone crying, and it frightens her.

Though, it occurs to her, that the boy who'd given her the torch might have followed her crying to her.

And she should walk on. Follow the crying. Offer something.

But she freezes where she is. The light might be visible to the crier. Or not. Sound echoes quite far in the dark emptiness. Or it can. She has no sense of distance, even with her torch.

She grips it until her knuckles go white and she stares.

It might be a trap. It might be a dead end. Something to scrape off the fragile hope.

It might be someone lost.

Like her.

And maybe that's the real reason she doesn't want to walk on.

She doesn't want to start crying too.

Even though she is. Crying, that is.


	30. Their Tears III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_30\. Their Tears III_**

Kouji is stubborn. Or a fool. He knows he can't keep walking forever but he tries to do it anyway.

And he ignores his body when it's freezing, too long without the torch, without a light.

Was Kouichi cold when he evolved, he wonders? He was, when he became Wolfmon. When that light filled him.

But he doesn't have his spirits now. He wonders where they are. And his D-scanner. Or his phone, if it's turned back into that. His pockets are empty. Feeling empty.

His back feels really empty too, with no-one walking half a step behind him.

And it weighs heavier with each step, with each_ faltering_ step.

And if his eyes moisten, if tears drop, he pays no heed.


	31. Their Lost Ones I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_31\. Their Lost Ones I_**

He can almost hear Osamu's voice. 'Get up. Come on, Ken-chan.' Sometimes it's kind. Sometimes it's a little condescending. At all times it's encouraging, pushing – telling him to get up and get _walking _–

But he knows Osamu's not there and it's all in his head and that's why he doesn't. He _can't_.

And he doesn't need to worry about hurting anyone, because there's no-one there.

Except…

'I'm hurt, Ken-chan.'

…the voice in his head. The light shadowy touches that he's probably imagining as well. The little bit of rebellious energy…which is, he supposes, better than no energy at all. Because he can't see Osamu. He reaches out but he can't touch him. Just feel those teasing, shadowy, touches. And that voice which sounds exactly the same as it had before.

'You're not here.'

'Sure I am. Right here.'

Cynical. Unwilling to admit he was wrong. Knowing.

It sounded exactly like Osamu.

'Come on, Ken-chan. This way.'

And, finally, Ken stood up and walked on.


	32. Their Lost Ones II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_32\. Their Lost Ones II_**

'Be brave, Juri.'

She can hear Leomon's voice, in her head. Or around her. But probably in her head, because Leomon's paw isn't on her shoulder, and her heart isn't burning with courage like it does when he is.

'You have a lion's heart.'

_Only when you're here_, Juri returns silently. And she can't hold back the tears anymore. They begin to fall. Because those were Leomon's last words. The words that still follow her. Still echo around her. Still stalk her like the darkness and the cold…

At least she has the torch now. And she raises it so it casts more light, because she is hopeful even though her heart and her eyes are both crying. Or she is just lying to herself.

Either way, there is nothing but stone continuing on and the darkness pressing against the light of her torch – the torch that is dwindling down.

How long as she been wandering?

'Are…' Her voice sounds weak and shaky in the passageway. 'Are you really there?'

'I'm here.'

But it's not Leomon's voice. To her surprise, it reminds her about Masohiko.

And suddenly she was terrified for another reason.


	33. Their Lost Ones III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_33\. Their Lost Ones III_**

It's not so cold any more. He's not shivering – and he won't say he _was_ because that'll just be admitting there's something about the darkness he can't handle. Because that's not fair. And not right. He needs to find Kouichi in this darkness. Maybe not the one who's alive, but some presence he hadn't been able to reach.

Watching him die right in front of him meant there was no hope at all that he was alive. He'd seen the body split into strips of data, heard his voice fading into nothingness. And he was old enough to know that humans don't get second chances.

Even though there's a little voice in his head pointing out that his mother turned out to be alive.

Then again, he hadn't seen her die.

And he's promised Kouichi that he'll go and see her.

And, suddenly, the darkness feels like it's pushing him. Making his tired legs walk on.

He'd promised. He'd totally forgotten about that promise.

And he feels like the darkness wants him to fulfil it.

That Kouichi remembers, and wants him to fulfil it.


	34. Families and Friends I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_34\. Families and Friends I_**

He sees a light coming, from behind. Like when he'd gotten lost in the labyrinth and Ryo and Wormmon had brought candles and come after him. It had been scary, because there'd been something dark in there, but Ryo had fought it off. And found him. And taken his hand and led him out.

Ryo…he wonders where Ryo is now. Whether Ryo knows. Knows that Osamu's died. _How_ Osamu died.

Realistically, he knows no-one can wish anyone to death. And that he hadn't meant it. And that Osamu had known that, because he'd given a little smile. Like "I forgive you". And it's easy to remember and forget in the darkness. Because he wants company so bad. He wants forgiveness. He wants Osamu. He wants Ryo.

He wants whoever is carrying the light to come.

But he has his own legs. And he can walk as well. So he does.

And when the tentative, frightened, question came, he answered.

He can make it just a little bit easier for the person coming for him. Regardless of whether it had been on purpose or a coincidence.

And he can wipe his tears.

He almost feels someone's hands wiping them.

Almost.


	35. Families and Friends II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_35\. Families and Friends II_**

Juri follows the voice as fast as she can until she sees a young boy walking towards her. When she gets closer, she realises it's the boy she'd seen before. When they'd started at the first fork. When that girl with the Dobermon had been there as well.

She is a little bit disheartened, but also glad. Masohiko hadn't gotten lost in this dark strange maze. And now she isn't alone.

But he is the little brother and she needs to be the big sister. Even though she's tired and scared and in pain and still there's no Leomon to be found.

She offers her hand. For now, that's all she can do.

But the boy brightens and takes it, and they walk together. Walk on.

His hand is roughly Masohiko's size as well. She wonders when the last time she'd played with her little brother was.

How long she'd been neglecting him.

And who else she'd been neglecting.


	36. Families and Friends III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_36\. Families and Friends III_**

He realises he knows almost nothing about his mother. He's never asked: not his father, not his brother.

It's a mistake, and he'll have to fix it. And he realises he doesn't know a lot about anyone. Kouichi – isn't he guessing wildly, basing it on the one thing he does know? The element? Isn't he just making things up?

And Takuya, and Izumi, and Tomoki, and Junpei… He doesn't know a lot of things about them, he realises. He knows their elements. He knows bits and pieces, but not what sort of music they like, what books or television series or anything like that they watch. He doesn't know those things at all.

He needs to learn them, he thinks.

He needs to learn more about everyone.

So he isn't drifting blind.

Even if it'd probably hurt more.

It'd make the darkness more formed.


	37. Talking I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_37\. Talking I_**

The girl – it's not the one with the Dobermon, but the one who had run first into the dark maze – takes her hand and Ken finds himself feeling much braver as a result. She's scared; he can feel her shaking. He's still scared too. But now there's light. And there's company. And he can see there's no ghost of Osamu that's going to turn from the kind but strict older brother into something else…

And though he's tired and he wants to fall down again he can continue walking. And though the girl is likely the same, she can continue walking as well. And continues holding his hand with one of hers, and the torch in the other.

She is warm. She is like a temporary… 'older sister.'

She starts, before looking into the distance when he says that aloud. 'I have a younger brother,' she says, finally. 'Half-brother, really. Born after my father remarried. After my mother died.'

He can't imagine his family changing like that and he falls silent. Osamu's absence…seems so small in relation to _that_.


	38. Talking II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_38\. Talking II_**

He's misunderstood, she realises. 'I was very young,' she elaborates. 'I barely remember my mother. It's Leomon who died recently. My digimon.'

It's easy to talk to this boy, she realises. Maybe because he's young. Maybe because he's showing on his face how brave he is, even though he's scared. Maybe because he's reminded her of Masohiko and now that impression is stuck.

But she talks. And maybe she's guilt-tripped him into it or just broken the ice because he talks as well. He tells her about his older brother. How they'd had an argument. How he'd died, but had forgiven him when he died. How his best friend had vanished and the digital world was so far away so he can't see his partner anymore.

And she thinks they both feel a little better like that. Or maybe it's just giving them the chance to unload after all that wandering they've both done.

She wonders how long it's been…

And why.

Because that desperation from before has fled. The thinking that, yes, Leomon is alive and somewhere and she just needs to find him. She doesn't doubt he will be reborn some day, eventually. She knows digimon are. But not this minute, perhaps. Not this second.

And she'd almost forgotten everyone else in her life in that.

Like Masohiko.


	39. Talking III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_39\. Talking III_**

The darkness is…very lonely.

He's not sure why he thinks that, suddenly. Maybe because he remembers – and he definitely remembers – Kouichi telling him that. The darkness is lonely. That's why it's so easy to latch on to the first being in it. The first converser. Because his grandmother and father and brother were just phantoms in the darkness.

If he really _had_ been there…

He wonders if it's the same now. If the voice that echoes softly in the walls, that drags him on, is a phantom too. At least it is a kinder one, he thinks, than his own. He's not disappearing into a sun that's too bright to run towards.

He is listening. And Kouji can talk – all the things that he remembers he's never asked, never spoken about – and not feel so alone.


	40. Meeting Back Up I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_40\. Meeting Back Up I_**

They're still talking when they emerge from the labyrinth, to the girl and her digimon waiting for them. She sees them and smiles.

They take a little longer to see her.

'Welcome back,' she says.

They return the greeting. Then they look at each other. Then back at her.

'We're waiting on one,' she says softly. 'Then we can talk about what you saw.'

They are confused, but they accept it. They continue talking to each other. She about her little half-brother, about her step-mother, about the mother that had died years ago… She's not talking about Leomon now. She hasn't forgotten. She's just trying to avoid it.

And he doesn't ask. He is trying to avoid as well.


	41. Meeting Back Up II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_41\. Meeting Back Up II_**

He talks about his parents. About a friend he can barely remember but he knows is a friend.

He doesn't talk about his brother because something has settled in his chest and he needs to leave it there. For a bit, at least. Until reality sinks in and whispers how it can't have been Osamu there. How Osamu can't have forgiven him. How Osamu can't have led him through the darkness and to someone else, knowing how frightened he gets alone.

And that's okay, because she doesn't ask and she doesn't say either: about who she's lost. They did that at first and then not again. They talk about the living now. About those people waiting for them. Worrying about them.

They wonder where the third of their little party is as well. And maybe they are a little worried to.

And then he comes, out of the darkness and into the light of the torch the girl only now holds.


	42. Meeting Back Up III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_42\. Meeting Back Up III_**

He sees the light and he hurries. He isn't the darkness. He can't pretend he is. And there is something whispering at him to hurry as well. Someone waiting. Someone wishing.

He almost stumbles. He finds two girls and a little boy; the guide has returned.

'You made it,' she says, softly. There is no wonder in her tone. Only relief. 'I was a little worried.'

'There was no need,' he replies gruffly.

'There was a great deal of need,' she returns. 'You almost didn't come.'

He hadn't realised that.

'It is good you gave the torch.'

She turns before he can reply. Before he can comment, or react. 'You're all here now,' she says. 'And now it's time to explain this place – and its door.'


	43. Voices Again I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_43\. Voices Again I_**

No-one asks. They're all in a slightly different place than where they started. And that's okay. That's how things should be.

The girl with the digimon smile together, and then she continues. 'This place is a pocket between worlds. Like the dark ocean,' she looks at the youngest of them, 'the core,' at the other girl, 'and the dark area,' at the older boy. 'In fact, it is all of those – and yet none of them.' She fingers the cold stone that lines the wall. 'It is a place where the whispers in our heart are given a voice.'

And she sees them. An elder brother. A partner. A twin. In the labyrinth. In the darkness.

She finds Dobermon's pelt. Pulls him closer.

Dobermon is the only solid one.


	44. Voices Again II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_44\. Voices Again II_**

'You lied.'

It is that boy – the older one.

Ken is surprised, because he looks like the most cynical of all of them. But…no, he realises. He is still cynical. But some part of him has been put to peace now. He can see it in the other's face, in the flickering light.

It is the same with him. And with Juri too.

The guide shakes her head. 'I told no lie,' she says. The Dobermon steps forth. 'He too is one voice from the darkness. But I could not move from that spot, so he took on a physical form for me.'

There is an implication there, and, surprisingly, it is the other girl who sees it first, who turns around.

She thinks she can see a brief glimmer of a lion's shape before it vanishes.


	45. Voices Again III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_45\. Voices Again III_**

The girl gasps, and the other two turn around as well. They both see the glimmer of their brothers fading.

Kouji realises he is the only one to have stepped forward. And it is only after he realises that fact that the guide gently grasps his wrist and pulls him back. 'You can go,' she says, 'but if you do, you'll be leaving everyone else behind.'

He stares at her. She smiles sadly. 'That is the nature of this place,' she says. 'Those who have things to live for find closure. Those who have nothing else find a small pocket of happiness.'

She pets Dobermon again. He gently butts her hand. 'I chose this,' she says. 'I had only Dobermon, and an old grandfather who was happier with his computers. I regret it sometimes. So please…' Her eyes looked bright in the flickering flame. 'Make a choice you won't regret.'


	46. Other Loved Ones I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_46\. Other Loved Ones I_**

He thinks. To stay means to see Osamu again. To have him forever, beside him.

For some reason, he can't quite imagine that. Osamu just isn't the sort to…always be there.

And even as he tries to hang on to the image, he remembers everyone else. Ryo. Wormmon. His parents.

Even his classmate who are always muttering under their breath how he has a genius for a brother.

Even people he barely knows. All those people who gave their best wishes at Osamu's funeral. Who said Osamu lives on inside of him.

All of them will be sad if he vanishes as well.


	47. Other Loved Ones II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_47\. Other Loved Ones II_**

She thinks of all the people she knows and it's hard. There's too many. She's talked to too many people. She remembers too many people.

And, chances are, most them remember her as well. From Takato and his parents at the bakery to people who frequent the park after she buys some cream buns. Some of those times she's with Calumon. And she's smiling at how innocent he looks.

Calumon will miss her too. Even though there are other people to give buns.

Even Guilmon knows that bonds aren't just about buns.

And she laughs, despite herself.

It's impossible to disappear.


	48. Other Loved Ones III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_48\. Other Loved Ones III_**

He wonders. He might be the one who wonders the most deeply.

He has friends, yes. But they are new. Fresh. From the digital world.

And his family…

And again, he's just lying to himself.

So they're new friends. They've become far too close. He can hear them now, yelling at him for even thinking he can vanish into thin air. That he can chase a memory from his heart –

Because he realises that as well. Kouichi won't be Kouichi: just the one he remembers.

As for his parents. He remembers when Duskmon was about to bring down his sword. How can he think of not doing what he promised then. And how can he think of not fulfilling the promise he'd made to his brother?

Kouichi might not have had regrets, but he still has lots of them.

Or maybe Kouichi had lied because he really hadn't had a choice.


	49. Their Choices I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_49\. Their Choices I_**

The guide looks at them. She doesn't need to ask. She can see their answers in their eyes.

She points behind here. 'Here are the ways back to your own world,' she says. 'You will find a different darkness there.'

'Grief,' the eldest of them supplies.

She nods. 'Yes, grief.' She runs her hand over the stone again, feeling its chill. 'But remember all those things that stop you staying here, that make you walk on, and things will be fine.'

That's easy to say, Ken thinks, eyes flicking back to where Osamu's silhouette had been just moments before. Thinking and doing are two different things, and he is still reluctant. And there seems to be no urgency. No-one moves.


	50. Their Choices II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_50\. Their Choices II_**

She doesn't want to say goodbye. Realising how many people will be hurt, how many she will miss, is one thing. Actually walking away from Leomon is another thing entirely.

But she knows she has to. Eventually.

'Do we have time?' she asks. Her voice, once again, sounds small.

'You have all the time in the world until your mind changes,' the guide replies.

Which, Juri rises, are very wise words, because the more she thinks, the more she wants to hold that inevitable parting off a little more.

So she swallows and steps forward.

The guide moves aside, showing her the swirling white light.


	51. Their Choices III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_51\. Their Choices III_**

He watches the girl. He hears her question. The answer. Her conviction.

He is not that brave.

Maybe it's because her lost one is a digimon. There's still hope for her. After this.

Humans don't get second chances. And that's what's been tripping him up.

He wants to hit his head, but the knowledge that it was a head injury that left his brother so vulnerable stops him. Still, if he could think of a way to slap sense into his brain, he would do it.

He has too many regrets he can't fulfil. And, since he knows the voice, the soft touch in the labyrinth is nothing but a shadow, he also knows it will never make him truly happy.

He knows it. It's just hard to walk away from it.


	52. Farewells I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_52\. Farewells I_**

Ken looks for the shadow of his brother again.

Juri has stepped forward. She is first, and Ken is grateful for the extra few seconds, or minutes, or however long. It's not the same as all of them waiting, undecided. It is just like waiting in a line.

He catches sight of his brother again, finally. A flicker of a smile is on the other's lips. His glasses catch the flickering flame.

Then the flame Juri holds goes out and it is only the guide's little stud lighting things – and the gate.

Ken swallows back his longing. It is almost time.


	53. Farewells II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_53\. Farewells II_**

She fights the instinct to look back again. That is only delaying the inevitable. She knows it.

She fights, and she wins.

She steps through the vortex without looking back.

_Goodbye, Leomon._

She is still hopeful. Leomon is a digimon; he might be reborn. But she is also remembering. Why she can't stay, wallowing in that loss. that she has other people around her. People who will be sad. People who will worry.

People she has already worried enough. Not smiled at enough.

She can't quite get a smile on her face. She's not quite there yet.

But she can.

_I can do this._


	54. Farewells III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_54\. Farewells III_**

By default, he has wound up at the end of the line. And the light has gone out. There's just a tiny flicker now. and that's okay.

If he sees Kouichi's face again, he might change his mind.

But he's lying again, he thinks. He does that a lot, though he hadn't really noted it before.

He doesn't want to leave, but he also doesn't want to stay.

He's afraid he won't be able to leave.

Maybe, he thinks, that's why the girl went first.. She's afraid as well. She doesn't want to trap herself with a shadow…when there is life waiting.

The boy is gone too. It's his turn now.

He steps in before he can change his mind.


	55. The Tragedy They Avoided I

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_55\. The Tragedy They Avoided I_**

Ken is met by his parents' weeping faces. They hug him and kiss him and apologise to him and check him over. Then they hug and kiss him again, and Ken is dizzy, because they've never showered him with so much attention before.

But as he pieces the story together, he understands. He's never slept like the dead before either, and his parents were afraid. And worried.

Finally, his mother decides he must be hungry and his father decides he might need some time to get his head straight, and they go with a final kiss and hug.

Ken looks around his room. He doesn't see Wormmon, or Ryo, but he can see his digivice sitting innocently by the computer.


	56. The Tragedy They Avoided II

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_56\. The Tragedy They Avoided II_**

Juri find Calumon on her lap. And Masohiko. And her puppet.

Somehow they all fit on to her lap. Though she's not quite sure how.

She smiles. They stir. They wake up.

And then they're making a pancake out of her, jumping on the bed and screaming.

And her father comes in. and her stepmother. And both of them look older than she remembered, but they're smiling. They also have worry in their eyes.

'I'm okay,' she says, and she smiles.

How can she not smile when they show how much they are worried? And how can she not try and make them less worried. Happier.

And they do look a little more relieved.

And she will be okay, she thinks. She'll be brave too.


	57. The Tragedy They Avoided III

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_57\. The Tragedy They Avoided III_**

Kouji has a plethora of people – and one dog – at his bedside.

And he feels a stab of guilt at their faces.

Until they smile. And he can't help but offer a smile in return. And then everyone starts talking: his father and stepmother asking questions, his friends talking over them – asking their own questions, telling him things –

And his dog gets tired of being ignored and gives a loud bark. And he bites someone's leg. Kouji thinks so anyhow. It's a little hard to see.

And then he blinks.

He's miscounted. There are three adults there, and none of them is the doctor.

His mother – his birthmother – is there too.

His smile widens, even with the tears that start to fall.


	58. His Parents

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_58\. His Parents_**

Life doesn't quite go back to normal. Osamu is still dead. Ryo is still missing and Gennai has no news on that front. But Wormmon is in the digital world and happy to see him again. And his parents are happy too.

It's like a second chance for all of them. They're trying hard, and he's trying hard too. Not to be Osamu. Osamu is somewhere else. He knows that. To be himself. To be the little brother Osamu can be proud of.

To be the little brother Ken hopes Osamu _is_ proud of.

And the friend Ryo can be proud of as well, wherever he is.


	59. Her Little Brother

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_58\. Her Little Brother_**

Things change…for the better.

She'd never realised how her attitude was stilting their family. How her fake smiles had made her stepmother's fill with pain. Had made her father scowl. Had made her little brother frightened.

She knows that now, and she smiles less, but more honestly.

Not even Takato says anything. Takato who always says he loves her smiles. But maybe she was smiling honestly, then.

He still says that. And she is happy.

And she is still waiting patiently for Leomon. But not shut up. Not away from everyone.

Leomon touched other hearts as well.

Even Masohiko knows. She tells him lots of stories of Leomon.


	60. His Friends

**The Labyrinth of Lonely Souls  
_60\. His Friends_**

Of course he still mourns for his brother. How can he not? But everyone surrounds him, and he can't be lonely any more.

He fulfils the promises he made. He fetches the flowers. A few days late, but the clerk had them waiting. Or she replaced the flowers, because they're as beautiful as the day he'd ordered them. The day they'd gone to the digital world.

And he buys a second batch. For his birthmother. He meets her. He stays in contact with her. He learns all about her – and the things he hadn't been able to learn about his brother before.

And he clings to his friends as well. Asks them as well. All those things he'd realised he'd never known, he knows now.

Things he doesn't want to lose until he dies.


End file.
